In a stunning move, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R.) has blocked the construction of an electric car battery plant that he said was “a front for China.” This comes as a major win for US patriots and a huge loss for Democrats.
The plant was ostensibly owned by the Ford Motor Company, but it would have been run by a Chinese company, Contemporary Amperex Technology, who also would have owned “the technology used in building the battery cells,” according to the Virginia Mercury. Governor Youngkin said Wednesday that he’d halted plans to build the factory.
“We welcome and encourage economic cooperation with international companies,” the governor said, but “‘Made in Virginia’ cannot be a front for the Chinese Communist Party.”
Youngkin’s victory here is a major setback for Democrats, especially former Governor Terry McAuliffe. McAuliffe lost the 2021 gubernatorial race to Youngkin, and if he had won, the plant might still be going up. McAuliffe has a 30-year relationship with China, partnering with a Chinese businessman to found an electric car company that offered visas to Chinese investors.
The news broke in 2021 that a top McAuliffe fundraiser “solicited Chinese investment in the Washington, D.C., area.”
Youngkin is the former CEO of the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, and he said this experience makes him “uniquely positioned to understand how the Chinese Communist Party works.”
“They have one objective,” Governor Youngkin said: “global dominance at the expense of the United States.”
It’s clear that Governor Youngkin is putting US patriots’ interests first here. His move to block this plant has put a major stop to the Chinese Communist Party’s attempts at global dominance, and it’s a huge loss for Democrats.
What will be interesting to see is if McAuliffe will attempt to get the plant up and running again if he ever takes office. We can only hope that Youngkin’s move will set a precedent and that no matter who is in power, the United States of America will always come first.
Erica Carlin is an independent journalist, opinion writer and contributor to several news and opinion sources. She is based in Georgia.
